The Walking Dead World Beyond returns for another strong episode. Eight episodes in, and the plot is really picking up. “The Sky is a Graveyard” begins right where we left off as there are long hidden truths that finally came out. The seventh episode is my favorite of the season. And I can also say, that this episode is my second favorite as well.
Hal Cumpston’s acting is convincing and striking. The whole time I watched “The Sky is a Graveyard”, I was really sold on how the character Silas was tramutized. There is one major thing that is a common ground in the universe of TWD. And that is, there is a high percentage of bad fathers in this world. I felt really bad for Silas with the way his father treated him and his mother. But I did chuckle when they were both listening to rock music.
The first walker that Silas not only seen but killed, is his father. I could not imagine what his thought process was at the moment. That is also something to think about whenever Silas is on the screen. I had a feeling that there was more than what appeared with Silas. And my instincts were correct. But I am also not convinced that he killed Tony. I believe that Huck did it.
Alexa Mansour as Hope, Nicolas Cantu as Elton – The Walking Dead: World Beyond _ Season 1, Episode 8 – Photo Credit: Zach Dilgard/AMC
Huck had to do it because the end of the episode revealed why she was missing not too long ago. Tony and Percy had a CRM vehicle, and a map with different refueling locations. There was no way that Huck would let them stay alive. Add in to the fact that CRM knows that the group are coming. And Huck has to not let her cover be blown. Imagine if they all showed up there with Tony and Percy? Elizabeth would not allow that and I believe that she just wanted Hope, Iris, and the rest alone without anyone else on the way. Huck is also Elizabeth’s daughter and that is something I did not expect.
I also did not believe it when Silas revealed to Iris that he killed them both as well. My theory is, maybe he seen Huck do it and she told him not to tell them.
Speaking of secrets, Hope finally revealed to Elton that she killed his mother. I wish that this scene was more impactful than it should be. But I just did not feel the emotion that I thought that I would when the reveal happened. They should have not cut to footage of Elton leaving as the narration of Hope telling him was on. I wanted to see Elton’s reaction right there. That choice of editing should have not happened. And where are Silas and Elton are going to go? They are not ready to handle the outside world yet. That is based on what we seen of the both of them since World Beyond started airing.
With those minor issues aside, I still think that “The Sky is a Graveyard” is a strong episode. I can also say that I am glad that things are turning to the dark side of the apoclapse for the group.
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Alycia Debnam-Carey as Alicia Clark, Alexa Nisenson as Charlie – Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 6, Episode 7 – Photo Credit: Ryan Green/AMC
“Damage From the Inside” serves as the mid season finale of Fear The Walking Dead’s sixth season. That was not the original plan as AMC halted production of the actual mid season finale at the start of the pandemic. Even so, this episode has a ton of strong performances by Alicia Debnam-Carey and Lennie James.
The surprise reveal at the end made my jaw drop. I will have to admit that because Grace was not on my mind at the time. Grace seems like she is going to give birth at any moment now. Virginia is going to use her as leverage against Morgan. When this does happen, it can make Morgan’s uprising go to a bad turn. That also depends on how many people he can gather to go against Virginia.
Alycia really stood out on “Damage From the Inside.” Especially the scene when her and Charlie was talking about The Stadium from season 4. Timeline wise, it has been almost a year since they were last there. So going back there to look for Madison could be a longshot. The Stadium was overrun by walkers. And I still wonder if Madison is alive.
When we were first introduced to Ed, I thought for a second that it was the same Ed from the Althea Tapes. But it turns out that this Ed is a animal hunter. The collection of his trophies in his shed spooked me out. Ed also attached horns on the walkers to weaponize them. That came back to haunt him later in the episode as the walkers came in. Ed accepted to be eaten by the dead and Alycia, Charlie, and Dakota were saved by Morgan.
Alycia Debnam-Carey as Alicia Clark – Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 6, Episode 7 – Photo Credit: Ryan Green/AMC
Another scene I like, is the standoff between Strand, Alycia, and Morgan. I thought that Strand aligning with Virginia was just a plot for him to turn on her. But he is a full fledged member. It will be very interesting to see which side he is on once everyone is together against Virginia. All of which, could happen on the next episode.
How Morgan will react to seeing Grace will be something to look forward to. I also suspected that Morgan was the one who took out the rangers because of the way the tree was chopped down. Morgan is doing everything that he can to launch the revolt against Virginia. And so far, the pieces are coming together for his plan.
With Virginia having Grace, and Morgan having Dakota, this situation could be smooth, or deadly. I like this episode and episode 8 needs to arrive ASAP! Fear The Walking Dead’s current season is the best in years and it left me more satisfied and anxious than ever before.
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Impact Wrestling has been in business since 2002. The promotion (then TNA) proved to make upcoming stars that we see today. Stars such as AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Christopher Daniels, Homicide, and Jay Lethal all had their first big break over there. TNA also reinvented careers of former WWE and WCW superstars, and introduced us to their women’s division called the Knockouts Division. With that, along with unique match stipulations, TNA was something of an alternative at the time when they launched.
But over the years and to this day, there is at least one terrible match per year that gives Impact the “LOLTNA” reputation that the internet wrestling community coined. Today, I will list those very bad matches from that promotion in the order of when it happened that year.
Hair vs. Hair: Raven vs. Larry Zbyszko Victory Road 2006 Watch Raven try to carry a 54-year-old, broken old man for 4 minutes, and fail spectacularly. No one should be wrestling at this guy’s age. See also: Larry Z’s Loser Leaves match with Eric Young at BFG of the same year.
Jay Lethal vs. Petey Williams No Surrender 2006 Jay Lethal had been turned into a Jackass fanboy in one of the worst pieces of cross-promotion ever (see also: JWoww in TNA). But even with bad build, how could these two great workers produce such a terrible match? Hint: it involves laxatives.
Tuxedo Match: Christy Hemme vs. The Big Fat Oily Guy Against All Odds 2007 Yes, that’s right, Christy Hemme once feuded with a nameless Big Dick Johnson ripoff, which culminated in one of the regular worst match stipulations, a rip-off-the-clothes match.
Elevation X: AJ Styles vs. Rhino Destination X 2007
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rArLTVXvL7w
Wonder why no one does scaffold matches anymore? They’re ridiculously dangerous and impossible to have a good match on. But substituting the single scaffold for 2 scaffolds in an X-shape… yeah, no, it doesn’t make it any less unsafe or unwatchable.
Blindfold Cage Match: James Storm vs. Chris Harris Lockdown 2007
Thank heaven the “Eye for an Eye” fiasco didn’t include a blindfold match at some point. They’re almost always awful, good only for a couple of cold-warm-hot spots with the crowd. This didn’t even have that.
Electrified Cage Match for the Tag Team Titles: LAX (c) vs. Team 3D Lockdown 2007
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esCtfaL1aRY
Sure, it’s electrified. If by “electrified” you mean “completely normal, but the wrestlers convulse when they hit the cage while the lights flash and a joy buzzer sound effect plays”.
Reverse Battle Royal Bound for Glory 2007
Yes, REVERSE Battle Royal. Sixteen men fighting to get INSIDE the ring, at which they suddenly struggle immensely despite being okay with it the rest of their careers. This was on their biggest show of the year, somehow.
MMA Match: AJ Styles vs. Frank Trigg No Surrender 2008 Faux-shoot matches (e.g. the Mr. T/Piper boxing match) are never good. Styles can’t even pretend to play a legit fighter, and Trigg is a fish out of water in the scripted world of wrestling. Also, it ends in shenanigans.
Number 1 Contender for the Knockouts Title: ODB/Roxxi/Taylor Wilde vs. The Kongtourage Genesis 2009
Three actual good women’s wrestlers try to make sense of the hopeless Rhaka Khan and Sojo Bolt, as well as Cheerleader Melissa in a burqa. The “one who wins the pinfall gets a title shot” stipulation rears its ugly head, leading to obvious shenanigans.
Jenna Morasca vs. Sharmell Victory Road 2009
When wrestling fans think “bad TNA match”, all too often they’re thinking of this, and it’s not hard to see why. A valet against a no-name Survivor contestant – with ACTUAL WRESTLER Awesome Kong at ringside – produces a legendary piece of **** of a match.
Abyss vs. Mr. Anderson Genesis 2010 A hardcore wrestler working a four-sided ring for the first time in forever vs. a guy wrestling the “generic mid-2000s WWE” style. That clash of styles isn’t exactly going to result in anything good. The crowd, who weren’t exactly happy as it was, HATED this.
for the Global Title: Rob Terry vs. Orlando Jordan Sacrifice 2010
See Genesis 2010, but substitute Abyss’s description for “Rob Terry, a man who has never been able to wrestle at all”. Eight minutes that feel like eight years.
For the Knockouts Tag Team Titles: Winter/Angelina Love vs. Mexican America Victory Road 2011
Featuring a notable botch where the future Zelina Vega has to hold Winter down in a roll-up pinfall for a good 20 seconds because Velvet Sky missed her cue. If that sounds good to you, you’ll love this match! Sarita deserved better.
First Blood: Matt Morgan vs. Hernandez Victory Road 2011
A finish to a feud that had been on hold for years, featuring no end to end action, no good wrestling (because Matt Morgan) and a stupid, screwy finish. I could put all of Victory Road ’11 on here actually. They managed to make an Ultimate X match suck! How?!
No Disqualification Match for the World Title: Sting (c) vs. Jeff Hardy Victory Road 2011
There’s not much of a match here, as Hardy going out while completely off his face on drugs curtailed the action to 89 sad, sad seconds. Instead, admire the efforts of the referee, Sting, and Eric Bischoff to ensure that no one came out of this night hurt.
Crimson vs. Rob Van Dam Hardcore Justice 2011 I could put Crimson’s entire “winning streak” on here. Repeated DQ wins and generally looking like shit for an “undefeatable” wrestler will do that to you. This match’s ending is one of the dumbest you will ever see, especially considering what it’s meant to build to.
Robbie E vs. Robbie T Lockdown 2013 Robbie E was always best when he was outside of the right, whereas Rob Terry… wasn’t best anywhere. This was the peak of a feud based around “bro-offs”, featuring everyone trying to pretend this massive Welsh man can dance.
Knockouts Gauntlet Battle Royal One Night Only: Live! 1
This got -2.5 stars from Meltzer, which is somehow the third-worst rated TNA match ever. A slow and heatless mini-Rumble featuring a young Deonna Purrazzo, who will want to forget she was even at this show.
Monster’s Ball: Abyss vs. Grado One Night Only: Live! 1 A hardcore bout with barely any hardcore and Grado fucking about, described by one commentator on Cagematch as “XPW with higher production values”. If you want to see Grado actually work the stipulation, watch Bound for Glory 2017 instead.
Rebel vs. Shelly Martinez One Night Only: Knockouts Knockdown 4 Just when you thought Jenna/Sharmell was the worst women’s match ever, here is this disaster, featuring offense that targets the vagina. Not even kidding.
These 20 matches really stand out to me. It is because it pinpoints the worst time to be a fan of Impact Wrestling. I hope within the next decade, I will not have to do a top 40.
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The Walking Dead’s tenth season is not over yet. A few months ago, the unfortunate news of the final season went viral. What also came with that news, is the extended episodes for the tenth season. Today, AMC has revealed the episode titles of the extra six episodes and their release dates.
Those episodes will premiere on Feburary 28th, 2021. That is not too far as it will be only two and a half months away. The bonus episode’s descriptions are the following:
EPISODE 1017 – “Home Sweet Home”
Maggie (Lauren Cohan) has returned with a story she is not ready to share, even when her past catches up to her. Negan’s (Jeffrey Dean Morgan,) safety is at stake again. Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Maggie fight an unseen and unknown threat.
EPISODE 1018 – “Find Me”
An adventure for Daryl and Carol (Melissa McBride) turns sideways when they come across an old cabin. It takes Daryl back to the years when he left the group after Rick disappeared as he relives a time that only the apocalypse could manifest.
EPISODE 1019 – “One More”
Gabriel (Seth Gilliam) and Aaron (Ross Marquand) search for food and supplies to bring back to Alexandria. Small tragedies lead to bigger tragedies as faith is broken and optimism is fragmented when they are put to the ultimate test.
EPISODE 1020 – “Splinter”
Eugene (Josh McDermitt), Ezekiel (Khary Payton), Yumiko (Eleanor Matsuura), and Princess (Paola Lázaro) are captured and separated. Princess struggles with memories of her traumatic past and tries to escape one way or another with the help of Ezekiel.
EPISODE 1021 – “Diverged”
Daryl and Carol come to a fork in the road and head their separate ways. Each going into their own type of survival mode, the easiest of challenges become much harder. Will their individual journeys be the tipping point needed to mend their friendship or is the distance between them permanent?
EPISODE 1022 – “Here’s Negan”
Carol takes Negan on a journey, hoping to minimize the increasing tension. Negan reflects on the events that led him to this point and comes to a conclusion about his future.
From the look of it, the 22nd episode will be Negan’s backstory from the comic of the same name. Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s wife Hilarie Burton Morgan will play as Lucille.
For overseas viewers, The Walking Dead will return on Monday March 1st!
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When I first heard that there will be a reboot of “Saved By The Bell”, I did not react to it that well. The general thought in my mind was that it was going to be another 90’s reboot that did not need to be revived. My curious mind opened up to the idea of the reboot. And I must say, it is one of the better reboots.
The original stars Mario Lopez, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, and Elizabeth Berkley Lauren are heavily featured on the first few episodes. But not to the point where they all have more screentime than the new cast. Even the Tiffani Thiessen cameo worked and told a brief story as Kelly and Zach Morris are now married. Zach is now the governor of California, and his son Mac (Mitchell Hoog) attends Bayside High School.
SAVED BY THE BELL — Pictured: (l-r) Mitchell Hoog as Mac Morris, Belmont Cameli as Jamie Spano, Dexter Darden as DeVante, Josie Totah as Lexi, Aisha Alycia Pascual-Pena as Aisha and Haskiri Velazquez as Daisy at The Max — (Photo by: Chris Haston/Peacock)
Mac is very similar to his father. In fact, Jamie Spano (Belmont Cameli) is similar to A.C Slater on the original show. When they appear on screen, the duo can be compared to the original characters. Whether if it is the dialouge, or their pranks, much of Zack Morris and A.C Slater’s personalities are passed down to these two. But the rest of the cast, are their own characters.
Haskiri Velazquez, the lead actress of Peacock’s Saved By The Bell, plays as Daisy. Daisy and her friends Aisha (Alycia Pascual-Pena) and Devante (Dexter Darden) were from a different school. The three were transferred to Bayside High and it is a surreal experience for them. What they were used to in their past high school, will not be the same anymore. This really hit hard for the three as they struggle to adjust to the new changes.
On the first episode, Daisy and Max’s chemistry is a highlight for the episode. Daisy’s bubbly and straight forward personality really stretched out the flow of “Saved By The Bell”. She actually became my favorite character during my time watching. There were really good moments that made me giggle and also feel for the character too.
There are also key features and easter eggs that pay homage to the original Saved By The Bell. Such as Daisy breaking the fourth wall, “time out”, the silly tricks and pranks, and even The Max. I found it quite amusing that the characters questioned why everyone eats at The Max every day since the food is expensive. It not only ads to the culture shock these characters go through, but it also addresses real world millennial problems not only in tyhat scene, but other scenes as well.
The characters are really enjoyable. Other than Mac and Jamie, the characters do not feel like they are copycats of the originals. There is a lot to know about them and it is surprising to know what their backstories are and what is in their minds.
Peacock’s “Saved By The Bell” is a nice way to revive the franchise. After the first episode, you will see that it is a completly different show than the original. The comparisons to the original is only by structure. But within that structure, there is a good balance of substance that will keep you engaged. I can easily say that Saved By The Bell is back and better than ever.
Peacock’s Saved By The Bell premieres on November 25th, 2020.
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